Punjab minister quits months after graft allegations

Punjab Minister Fauja Singh Sarari resigned from the cabinet on Saturday, months after he was embroiled in a controversy over an audio clip in which he allegedly discussed ways to 'trap' some contractors in order to 'extort' money.

Sarari has resigned from the cabinet of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, confirmed a senior leader of the ruling Aam Admi Party.

AAP's Punjab unit spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said Sarari has resigned from the cabinet, citing 'personal reasons'.

Senior AAP leader and Patiala Rural MLA Dr Balbir Singh was on Saturday sworn in as the new Punjab cabinet minister, shortly after Sarari resigned.

Balbir Singh was administered oath by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh on Saturday evening in the presence of Chief Minister Mann.

Singh, an eye surgeon, had defeated senior Congress leader Brahm Mohindra's son Mohit Mohindra from the Patiala Rural seat in the assembly polls held last year.

A purported audio clip of an alleged conversation between Sarari and his former close aide, discussing ways to 'trap' some contractors involved in food grain transportation through some officials to 'extort money' from them, had surfaced in September.

Sarari, 61, a retired policeman, was elected to the Punjab assembly from Guru Har Sahai in Ferozepur.

He had defeated Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Vardev Singh by 10,574 votes.

Earlier in May, barely two months after the AAP had stormed to power winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, Health Minister Vijay Singla had been sacked from the state cabinet over alleged graft charges.

Opposition parties in the state had been demanding Sarari's sacking and arrest.

He, however, had rubbished allegations against him.

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party had questioned why the AAP government had not taken action against him after the audio clip surfaced about four months ago.

After the arrest of former Punjab minister Sunder Sham Arora last year by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to one of its officers to help him settle cases against him, the opposition had accused the AAP government of adopting double standards over the issue of corruption and asked why Sarari was not being arrested in the audio clip issue.

Arora was a minister in the Congress government and had joined the BJP in June last year.

In July 2022, the Bhagwant Mann government had carried out its first cabinet expansion inducting five party legislators, including Sarari.

After that, the strength of the state cabinet had reached 15, including the chief minister.

There are 18 berths in the cabinet, including the chief minister.